


around sundae number 5

by explodingsnapple



Series: Cheers to the 99th Precinct! [10]
Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Based on a Tumblr Post, Canon Compliant, Episode: s03e23 Greg and Larry, F/M, Internal Monologue, Missing Scene, Moving In Together, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-24
Updated: 2019-09-24
Packaged: 2020-10-27 15:10:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20762402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/explodingsnapple/pseuds/explodingsnapple
Summary: Missing scene from 3x23, featuring Amy and Charles eating sundaes in a taxi.





	around sundae number 5

Amy Santiago was on the verge of a nervous breakdown less than three hours ago, but you would never know that by looking at her. As soon as the flight lands and the seatbelt sign turns off, she dashes out of the plane and weaves through the crowded airport with far more agility and speed than someone nine-months pregnant should have, a skip in her step and a smile on her face. When she reaches the taxi-stand, she flags down a cab, then turns around and waits with her hands on her hips. A few seconds later, Charles Boyle skids to a stop beside her, his face red from all the running. 

“Damn, Amy, really prison made you agile,” he pants. 

“Or, people are just scared of a pregnant lady sprinting through the terminal.” Amy laughs. “Plus,” she adds, a slight blush involuntarily creeping its way up her cheeks, “I’m excited, you know?” Before Charles has a chance to respond with what she’s sure would be a grossly-inappropriate comment on her romantic life, Amy turns away from him and opens the cab door.

Once Amy manages to properly position her seatbelt over her fake baby-bump – a feat much more difficult than it looks – and the cab starts moving, Charles hands her one of the two sundaes in his hand. He plucks the maraschino cherry off the top of his ice-cream and dangles it in front of her, but as soon as she tries to take it, he yanks it away. 

“Hey!” she exclaims. “What was that for? You don’t even _ like _ the cherries!”

“First, tell me, why are you so excited to get home?” Charles asks nonchalantly, twirling the stem of the cherry around.

“In case you’ve forgotten, our squad put their trust in the wrong person, Captain Holt was briefly held hostage by one of Figgis’s men, and now everyone is at Rosa’s apartment and trying to get him to confess, but by the looks of Jake’s texts, they’re failing.”

Charles grins at her. “Plus, you haven’t seen Jake in _ so long _ and you love him _ so much _ and your reunion is going to be _ so _–”

“Alright, Charles. Gross.” Amy deftly plucks the cherry from Charles’s still-twirling fingers and pops it in her mouth.

“I just mean that your love has reached a whole new level! Maybe tonight, Jake will finally try that shampoo–”

“_Charles!_” 

“C’mon, I just want details!” Charles exclaims. “You made me talk you through your spiral; I deserve some kind of reward for that. Tell me all about your ripening feelings!”

“Don’t refer to my feelings as ‘ripening,’” Amy rolls her eyes. Still, her growing giddiness at the thought of seeing Jake after so long apart causes a small smile to force its way onto her lips, despite her attempts to stop it. _Absence_ does _make the heart grow fonder,_ she thinks. Hers certainly did, after all. 

“Do you think Jake managed to keep my fish alive?” she asks. Charles stares at her. “He was supposed to look after them while I was in prison,” she explains.

“Aww, you guys have keys to each others’ apartments?” Charles’s eyes widen in delight. “How romantic!” Now it’s Amy’s turn to stare.

“We exchanged keys _months_ ago, and you knew that,” she says. “You found out about it almost immediately and wouldn't stop gushing about it for two weeks straight.”

“Oh, yeah.”

“I’m a little worried, to be honest. He refuses to keep my key on his keychain, so he loses it every few days. I’m pretty sure my fish are dead by this point.” Amy looks at Charles to confirm her suspicions, but he merely shrugs. 

“I know as much as you do. Remember, I was stuck in prison with you these past few weeks.” Charles takes a spoonful of ice-cream and eats it slowly, a strange look on his face. Amy watches him suspiciously. “What?” he asks.

“Nothing,” Amy turns red. She knows the expression Charles is wearing well enough to know that nothing good can come of whatever it is he’s thinking. 

“Okay fine! I’ll tell you!” Charles says dramatically.

“No, it’s oka–”

“If you moved in together, he would only have one key to keep track of, and all this could be avoided. Plus, now that your love is blossoming so fruitfully, it only makes sense,” Charles says excitedly. “It’s perfect!”

Amy wrinkles her nose. “New rule: you’re not allowed to describe anything as ‘blossoming fruitfully,’ either,” she says.

“I’m just saying – wouldn’t you rather you spend your time embracing in the–”

“Don’t finish that sentence.”

“Indulging in romantic–”

“Or that one.”

“Okay, fine, but you know what I mean! There are so many _ other _ things you could be doing besides turning Jake’s apartment upside-down every other day hunting for a missing key.”

“I don’t think ‘increasing efficiency’ or whatever is a good enough reason to _move in with someone,_” Amy says flatly. “It’s a pretty big step to take, and I’m not sure if we’re ready for that.” Part of her winces internally at the obvious irritation in her voice, but at the same time, she can’t help it. Not only is her sugar-high from the four-and-a-half sundaes starting to wane, but also, for someone who enjoys planning everything out to the nth degree, all of this speculating about the future is starting to give her a headache.

Charles seems to take the hint, and he looks pointedly down at his phone, avoiding her gaze. Amy sighs.

The thing is, her relationship with Jake has _always_ had an element of spontaneity to it, from their first “real” kiss in the evidence-lockup to their first “I love you” on a cruise. For the most part, she takes the randomness of it all in stride, and even enjoys it. 

At the same time, though, Amy does have her limits, and she’s veering dangerously close to hitting them right now. Over the course of one day, she gave a motivational speech to several maximum-security prisoners, said the words “I love him _ so much _ ” for the first time completely-impromptu and not even to the person they’re meant for, ingested more sugar than she’s had in the past month, and got in a taxi to go help her friends, who are currently trying to interrogate a rogue FBI agent. Needless to say, she can’t help but feel like everything is spinning out of her control. She and Jake _are_ taking things slowly, but she’s happy, and that’s a constant in her life that she doesn’t want to think about changing just yet.

The sun begins to set just as they enter Brooklyn. Rosa’s apartment is on the opposite end of the borough, so they still have twenty minutes left to drive, giving Amy plenty of time to watch the sky change colors behind the New York skyline. It’s a sight that she has seen many times before, but one that never fails to fill her with wonder. 

She moved from New Jersey to New York for college and immediately made herself at home on New York University’s sprawling campus. She spent her weekdays at Bobst Library and her weekends at The Met, determined to make the most of the opportunity she had been given. Free from parental and societal pressure for the first time, she thrived both academically and socially. The city proved to be the idyllic environment – quiet but happy and busy at the same time – to grow into adulthood, and for Amy, it became the perfect place to live a life.

This is where she met her best friend (Kylie, two days into freshman year), failed her first exam (in Art History 1, although she eventually earned the highest grade in the class), and got her first job (at the coffee shop across the street from her dorm). 

This is where she graduated as valedictorian, first from NYU, then from the New York City Police Academy, finishing with a 4.0 GPA in the former and with high honors in the latter. This is where she met Captain Holt and Terry and Charles and Rosa, people so completely different from herself but who eventually became her second family. 

This is where she fell in love with Jake Peralta. 

She used to think the word _home_ describes a singular physical entity, something that could be pointed to on a map, but she realizes that that’s not the case at all. _Home _is her childhood bedroom in New Jersey where she traveled the world through the books and stories she devoured; _home _is the park bench in Washington Square Park where she struggled over English homework and fed the birds with Kylie; _home _is the Nine-Nine where she and her friends spend half their lives. _Home _can expand and contract as the people and things you love change, and it’s becoming increasingly clear to Amy that her _home_ is now with Jake.

As the car passes through familiar streets, countless memories buzz through Amy’s head: their first case as partners, a break-in at a bodega on 4th; their first news-worthy assignment, a murder at an apartment on 3rd. Chasing a perp around a building in Prospect Heights; arresting a criminal in a random alley in Brownsville. A peanut-eating contest on a rooftop on Barton; a kiss against a tree in a park near Atlantic. Walking home in the rain a few weeks after they start dating; spending the night at a library a few months after that. A friendship forged over bets and competitions; a relationship built on years of shared experiences.

Suddenly, the taxi rolls over a speed bump, causing Amy – and the half-melted sundae in her hand – to lurch forward. Some spills out of its cup and onto her hand. _Ew._

Wordlessly, Charles pulls out a handkerchief from his coat pocket and gives it to her. Amy smiles in gratitude and wipes the ice-cream off of her fingers. 

“I’m sorry for butting in earlier,” Charles says sheepishly as he takes it back. “But Jake’s my best friend, and you two being together just makes me so _ happy _ that sometimes I go a bit overboard.”

“No, you were fine,” Amy shakes her head. “It’s just that so many things are going on at the same time that I needed something to stay within my control, and I was scared. I mean, things are so _ good _ right now, you know?”

“Well, it will take some getting used to, but that shouldn’t hold you back,” Charles says sagely. “If you think you guys are in a place where you’re ready to take this step, then do it.”

Amy nods. “I was thinking the same thing.” She looks at the sundae, now completely-liquified, still in her hand. “Also, I don’t think this is edible anymore, unless you like ice-cream soup?” 

Charles fake-gags and shakes his head. The taxi lurches forward again, this time skidding to a stop in front of a random building that Amy has never seen before in her life – this must be where Rosa lives. Charles pays the driver, then the two of them walk towards the entrance. 

“Did you read Jake’s updates?” Charles asks, gesturing to his phone. 

“Mhmm. They’re in apartment 410. I’ll go down to the basement and cut off the power while you head up there and pretend to be a sniper,” Amy says, tossing her cup into a nearby trash can. Charles starts to turn towards the elevator, but Amy grabs his arm and stops him. “Thank you, seriously, for helping me get through today,” she says.

Charles smiles. “Does this mean you guys are going to move in together?”

“Well, I still have to ask him, but yes, I think so.” Amy’s chest flutters as she says the words, but she takes that as a sign that she’s doing the right thing. 

“Ooh, can I listen in on the conversation?” Charles asks.

“Okay, fine. It’s not like I can stop you, even if I wanted to.”

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by @kufikiria's tags on [this](https://b99peraltiago.tumblr.com/post/186935403991/youngsamberg-mondler-peraltiago-moving-in) post.


End file.
